My life sucks, 'The musical'
by k0m0d0-342
Summary: Story is temporarily put on hold due to lack of interest and that the writer has too much stuff to do!
1. This town, by JOJ

Hello! Here's my latest story, 'My life sucks; the musical!' and it's all about Fliara's future life as a wrongly accused criminal and murderer. I got the idea from the role fliara layed in Return to Station Square, written by Behind the Shadow, (who has sadly left fanfiction dot net.) which you should really read before reading this. Although these stories are similiar- they differa great amount. In Shadow's story, Station Square didn't become sin city.

For those of you who do not know, Fliara is my OC for the Sonic the Hedgehog series. But, however, since songfics are outlawed if not in the songfic category, I will follow the rules and put this in the songfic category rather than the Sonic the Hedgehog category.

The characters in this story- for instance, Yang, are usually borrowed from other authors on the site. However, Sonic, sation square and all other sega-claimed objects/caracters belong to them, and not to me or doomface corporations. Fliara and Nobody, however, are indeed my characters.

Each chapter will have it's own heavy metal song- however, due to the SILLY rules- I will not have the lyricsto the song. You can see the lyric edition on deviantart, though. The link to my account is on my profile. The plot is in the sumary. Have a nice day!

* * *

Ebony eyes stared down at the City Street below them, widening in surprise. It had looked like a much shorter fall from the ground. He swallowed nervously. He knew this was the only way. How else...? He could never touch a knife again, no, not after what happened... Never again. For a second he still stared down, but closed his eyes. The height was making him dizzy. 

...He didn't want to do this. But he had to. Too many people had gotten hurt because of him. Far too many. The guilt was too much. He had known, since that first day of blood and turmoil, that someday it would become to extreme to bear. In all truthfulness, he believed that day had been years ago, but this had been the only chance he had.

He couldn't change how things where. He remembered the rants about 'destiny' and 'fate' that far to many people had spat in his face. Now he realized they were right.

He placed a foot on the edge of the building's roof, feeling his balance waver at the change of position. He again swallowed nervously. Would it hurt? Yes. He had experienced much pain, but as far as he could tell he hadn't died from any of it. He had very little experience in the field of dying. And, for the first time in years... he was a little scared.

But it was what had to be done.

Yang placed the other foot over the edge- and let himself fall.

* * *

(A day earlier) 

Months, now.

Had it really been that long?

...Since what?

Fliara remembered- Months since she had gotten sick.

It had happened in November- if she remembered right. Why hadn't she known better? She was cold-blooded! The rain, the snow, the cold... why hadn't she done something about it? Of course she would have gotten sick!

The dragon sighed and tried to quicken her pace, pulling her heavily pocketed trench coat around her and quickly fastening the three buckles around her waist. It's not like she had much choice. She didn't have anywhere to go. And if she went to the hotels, they would find her. They would catch her.

They. They hadn't always been after her. There used to be a time- a happy time- where she was just a kid, having adventures with her brother, knuckles, and her friends, Tails, Amy, Big...

But then, _he_ ruined all of it. And that's when the friendly and bustling town of station square became a hellhole. _Her_ town.

Sonic. The blue beast. The monster. Fliara shuddered at his horrible name. Fliara once again-had beaten Sonic in a spar. Maybe it was then that childish rivalry moved into bitter loathing, and then into bitter and mal-sustaining hate. Had she not seen it coming that he would do anything for her demise and her- the same for his?

It hadn't been her fault. Sonic had attacked her first. But what could she have said? That she 'accidentally' sliced open his leg? That she 'accidentally' nearly crippled him for life?

Sonic had gotten better but he would never run as fast as he could have again. He could still run faster than anyone else could, but that was never good enough for Sonic.

Maybe if Fliara and Sonic had been friends, then maybe he wouldn't have taken it so hard. But Fliara had chosen to make him an enemy. And so he took it as hard as possible. Lawsuits, warrants for her arrest- lies about murders and burglaries that were never committed- it was because of him that the 'dome' was built.

Fliara hated the dome. More than anything. The huge, metallic hemi-sphere that surrounded the city. Four entrances on the cardinal directions allowed trains, trucks, busses, and deliveries to be made from either by land or to the airport next to the dome. But they were heavily guarded, and Fliara would b shot if she tried to get out there... Displays on the 'dome' allowed people to see beautiful galaxies swirl and dance at night and bright blue sky at day- even clouds and snow in the winter. It was equipped with wind and rain- perfect climate control- and materials that made the sun look so realistic in the sky. It was a sheer work of genius, a miraculous protective shell over the city. But Fliara hated it. It was built to keep her inside. Sonic had said it was 'to protect the city' or that's what he must have said to Tails, who designed it. While it was being built Fliara had tried to escape. But Sonic would always be there to catch her. Every time, he or Tails or someone else would catch her, and corral her back into the city.

Tails... He had been her best friend. Sadly, he had been Sonic's best friend as well. And now Tails had built it- the horrible, horrible bowl of metal that trapped her like a fly in this terrible city. She could not get out. She could not get back to the desert oasis in Africa, which had been her home for nearly all her childhood She was stuck here.

Fliara shivered and pulled her wings closer to her beneath the cloak. She could never show her wings when people were watching. Her wings were her best features. The entire back was now covered in strong, red scales, and in the front, Black hide was stretched between the five red finger-like bones. They were beautiful. But she could never let anyone see her wings. Then they would know- they would know it was she, and they would tell them.

_Them._ Were everywhere. They were on the busses, the rooftops. They were cops- but they certainly could not be human- not the way they moved, the way they could look for her so persistently. Tails and Sonic had probably made them together. Fliara would have screamed in rage- but it would draw attention to herself. She should never draw attention to herself. That's why she only went out at night- when no one could see her.

Baggy, black cargo pants hang around her hips and a tattered red sash functioned as a belt. Red-netted pockets and zippers and other things she had learned to sew on herself covered the entire fabric- she needed all the pockets she could get- every thing that belonged to her would be in them. The same thing went for her trench coat. Three buckles wrapped around he waist- they were snug and thick. The coat hung around her ankles, but otherwise would billow out behind her, all the while covering her wings. Beneath the coat, a red tube-top, adorned with the image of a black dagger was the only article of clothing besides the prementioned she owned.

Fliara moaned as she staggered due to her sickness-induced dizziness. She brushed her orange hair- streaked with black and white highlights (Fliara had no idea how it grew like that) and done up in a ponytail, leaving two long bangs that outlined her face. She had to get to the hospital. If she was careful, and did not let them see her face, maybe she could sneak in, buy some medicine with the money she stole- (she hadn't wanted to but it was the only way- she had only taken $20) and then she might get better.

Fliara sighed, folding her clawed fingers together (her fingers were basically golden-colored knives) and leaning against the wall. She needed a rest.

Tails and Sonic- and the others- were old now. Many of them dead. Tails had lived- but he was very old now, and Shadow had gone crazy and killed himself years ago. Fliara sighed; wondering how long it would take before she did the same. She couldn't keep living like this- trapped in a god-forsaken city where she would never be any more than a criminal. Stealing from supermarkets at night for food- mugging people on the streets for medicine...

Fliara coughed, and fell to her knees, feeling her lungs burn in agony. She felt like she was dying- but knew it wasn't so. She had felt like she was dying for months. For some reason, her health had remained at the same state it had been since the second month that she got sick.

After coughing up some green sludge- (that was Fliara's least favorite part) the dragon moaned and stood up, stumbling to the hospital once gain. It was only a corner away.

She wished that she could fly there- but she could barely move her wings. The sickness had done this to her. If she could just get some medicine, some good food and a few days rest...

But she could never rest. Because _they_ would find her. They always did.

She coughed again, but not as hard. Her wings- her poor wings- had barely gotten any exercise since she had gotten sick. She could no longer fly as high or fast as she used to. Once she had gotten to the surface of the dome, and saw the monitors that displayed pictures of the sky- but once she touched it-

...It had been painful.

If not for the exercises she tried to do each morning and night, her wings would have deteriorated to nothing. She sighed. Maybe that would have been for the best. Then she wouldn't be so tempted to fly- to take of the cloak and soar up to the dome- and just shatter it, even thought that was impossible (she had tried many times)- and soar and fly for miles and miles as she had done before all of this happened...

Eggman had died a long time ago. But the city had disintegrated. It was now more like New York City than the Station Square she knew and loved. It was big- so Fliara had many places to fly during the night (if she was healthy enough-, which wasn't the case today) but it was a bad, bad, noisy place. And it was filled with _Them_. But Fliara had a place in the city- a place where _they_ didn't often look for her. She couldn't stay there forever- but she could stay there for a while. There was a torn up, ruined couch- missing one leg, a broken window, and many holes in the ceiling, but there was a radiator! Oh how Fliara had loved that little place. But the only way there was flying, and Fliara couldn't fly anymore...

She finally got to the hospital, and shakily opened the door- scared out of her wits that she would be caught. She stepped into the building- and sadly, into the light- but tried to keep cool- even though she knew she must look horrible. She flipped a black, synthetic wool hood over her head- making her nearly unrecognizable, and walked up to the pharmacy counter. The worker looked up from the magazine he was reading- and smiled- until he got a good look at the customer. Fliara could tell he was a little disturbed by her red and black clothing- but he was trying his best to be polite. The orange echidna tried to form a grin.

"What are you here for, miss?" He asked. Fliara tried to smile warmly- but as usual it came out dark and cruel. She sighed, and gave up with the smile. Too many years of dark, sadistic humor were working against her.

"What's the strongest OTC for bronchial infection you have for under $20?" Fliara asked, trying not to sound too anxious. She couldn't help it- she was worried of being caught. But she needed the medicine.

"Umm... that would be... let me check." The echidna turned to the shelves behind him.

"I'm kind of in a hurry." Fliara insisted, still trying to sound unsuspicious.

"Okay." He answered, filing though the shelves. Fliara shifted her weight, and fiddled with a pocket zipper on her left thigh. In a few minutes, the echidna came back, and placed something called 'breathe-easy' on the counter. _What a lame brand name..._ Fliara thought to herself. She thanked the echidna, and put the twenty dollars on the counter, and quickly swiping the medicine into her pocket. She turned to leave as fast as possible, trying to stifle a cough.

"Wait!" The echidna called out. Fliara froze in her tracks. Had he caught her? She didn't dare move, unless he had a gun pointed towards her, or was about to push the alarm button.

Every store seemed to have an alarm button just for her. She sighed. How convenient.

"You forgot your change." He said. Fliara sighed, but did not relax fully.

"Keep it."

"It's five dollars- I can't. It's against store policy." He said. Fliara sighed exasperatedly.

"Keep it."

"I could get fired." He said. Fliara groaned, and hurriedly rushed over and snatched the five dollars and three pennies from the echidna, turning to leave again. Once again, he stopped her.

"That cough sounds pretty bad- you should see the doctor."

"No thanks."

"No, really, I can get you an appointment right now, I-"

"NO!" She shouted. The echidna jumped back, and Fliara's hand flew to her mouth. She knew she was caught now.

"Wait- ...you're... y-you're that d-dragon!"

"No, no! Quiet, kid!" She exclaimed, waving her hands in front of her. He ignored her, and reached for the phone-

Fliara wouldn't let him. No. Never. Her clawed hand flew to her gun pocket- she quickly grabbed the small hand-pistol and shot the echidna in the back. He fell to the ground.

The dragon quickly turned and ran out of the building, ignoring the burning in her chest. Once outside, she ran around the corner and collapsed in exhaustion, breathing heavily. She returned the gun, filled with harmless stun bullets, to her pocket. The echidna would wake up in three hours with a sore back and no memory of how he had gotten on the floor.

She quickly looked to the package...

...Take three tablets daily for extreme cases, putting four hours between each tablet. DO NOT OVERDOSE. Side effects may include drowsiness and mild headaches. If severe headaches or nausea persist, see a doctor.

Fliara sighed, opened the package, and popped a tablet in her mouth, swallowing it quickly. It tasted awful. But this could make her fly again. She sat down for a moment, trying to normal her breathing, and stood up, half- limping in exhaustion away from the pharmacy.

Finally, she got to the dark alley she had called home for the past five months, and curled into her newspaper-lined corner. It had been about four hours, so she took another tablet, and lay down to sleep, letting her wings out of the trench coat for the night- exercising them, and curling up inside of them. She had been very lucky today, it had not rained, she hadn't been caught, and she finally got the medicine. And all it had cost was $20 dollars from a stranger's pocket and a few hours from a teenager' conscious. How was that a crime? She had to do it to survive. She couldn't' do anything else. They had enough forged evidence to lock her away forever. And so this was her life. Stealing from supermarkets, staying in the shadows, and trapped like a mouse. She sighed. But at least she wasn't one of the drug-addicts or worse of this forsaken city. It was bad, but it could be worse, and Fliara was thankful.

_This town is our town..._

* * *

So, how did you like it so far? Should I continue? Please answer truthfully.

This fic is basically goign to mock all philosophy and reason ever set down by the greatest people of our time. The plot is going to continue to the friendship of Yang and Fliara, to shocking plot twists and cooky quirks that I'm sure you'll all enjoy.

By the way, the song for this chapter was 'This town' by J.O.J. It was a demo song, and never released to the public. The chapter was only _based_ on the song, however. No lyrics are included in this version and I am thusly not breaking the rules.


	2. I'm hiding, by KoRn

Whoo! It's chapter two! Rejoice!

...anyway, this chapter was inspired by 'I'm hiding' by koRn. I suggest you listen to it. MUAHAHA!

* * *

Fliara, as usual, slept during the day, and woke up around dusk- at seven. Realizing that she had never taken her third tablet, quickly popped the bitter capsule in her mouth, and swallowed it quickly, putting the package in her pocket for the next sixteen hours. She took in a deep breath, and looked up at the tall buildings surrounding her. She sighed, and continued to breathe deeply. She did feel a little better. That medicine was helping. Again her gaze turned to the fading light of the artificial sun- now halfway below the fake oceanic horizon. There was a gate in the harbor, where the ships could get out- but all of the cargo and passengers were inspected carefully. She could not stow away on one of the ships. But, she remembered that at this time, she was usually up on the top of the radio tower- watching the ships sail in and out of the gate, and frowning up at the gorgeous- but fake- orange-tinted sky, laced with colors of the brightest ochre and darkest mahogany. Whoever had programmed the scenery for the sunsets and night had been quite an artist. But Fliara didn't care about that anymore.

She wondered- she felt much better. Could she fly? She took a deep breath and flapped her wings. She could probably fly a few miles, and about thrity- maybe thrty five meters high, but any more and she would just get sicker. She should probably just rest for today- being careful to move around every few hours so that they wouldn't catch her. She as about to curl back up in her corner- when her stomach grumbled obnoxiously. She sighed. She really should eat breakfast. She wondered where she would get it this time, now that she could fly. She knew just the place. A nice little fruit/meat market that closed at six. She had learned about all the security cameras in that place. She knew the blind spots, and she knew what was off limits- what people would miss, and what she couldn't take. She could take vitamins, but not milk. It would spoil; she had nowhere to keep it. She could take peaches, but not bananas- they weren't in the camera's blind spots.

Keeping this in mind, the dragon tested her wing strength, jumping up and down and fluttering a bit- then launched herself into the air, careful not to push herself too hard- and glided along the darkening sky.

Finally she came to her destination, and turned her body upright, slowing down as her wings fought against her momentum. She flapped to a stop above the roof- and snapped her wings against her body, causing her to fall against the concrete, her knees, stomach and large feet absorbing the blow. She walked over to a skylight, and gently pried open the glass, letting herself slip inside and fall onto the square of artificial moonlight. Her claws clicked noisily on the tiles- but she knew that the cameras did not detect sound, and was thusly not worried. She quietly slinked over to the peaches, and slipped two into her pocket. Any more and they would spoil because she hadn't eaten them fast enough. She sighed, knowing her diet did not contain enough protein or vegetables- but those were not in the blind spots. There were some hot dogs and granola bars she could reach, but she didn't want to push her luck today. She had already used up most of it. She noiselessly jumped back to the moonlit square, and fluttered back up to the roof, snapping the skylight shut as she left.

* * *

Our fiery friend walked happily along the darkened streets, careful to stay out of the light and the gaze of any passerby, and munching contentedly on one of her peaches. She liked the fruit, but it had grown a little monotonous. She would have to get some meat from the K-Mart down the street when it closed at eleven. She hadn't done that in so long.

It had been hard getting by without flying, but now that she had gotten the medicine, she could get the nutrients her body needed to get even stronger. She was on her way to being healthy again. She happily finished the last juicy bite, and popped the pit into her mouth, sucking the last few morsels of fruit off of it. When it was finally fruit-bare, she spit it out and threw it into one of the potted trees that lined the sidewalk. It was a part of the 'beautification' plan that Sonic had created five years before he died of old age. They could plant all the flowers they wanted, it wouldn't get the drugs and gangs and prostitutes to leave town.

You might be asking this question 'How could Fliara be alive when Sonic and the others had died of old age?' Well, she was a dragon. Dragons, or at least Fliara's species, could live to be very old- the estimate was 520- and right now, even though Fliara's age was 98, she, in body and mind, was not a day older than twenty-three. Interesting concept, though.

She continued walking through the now darkened streets, occasionally string up at the dome-produced images of galaxies and stars and sometimes fantastical things- planets big enough to see the rings of, bright, obvious constellations, every month or so a meteor shower. Every so often she would enjoy the beauty produced by the dome- but it was still a trap. A horror. And she would remember that, and start to hate it all over again.

She turned a corner, and was shocked to find hundreds of people, police and lights- gathered around the side of a tall skyscraper. Fliara gasped and drew back around the corner. They hadn't seen her. Thank goodness. But what were they looking at?

Fliara carefully sneaked around, and looked back at the large crowd in front of the building... they were all looking up, to the top of the building. Fliara, curious, took another step around the corner and looked up.

It was hard to see because the spotlights kept moving around- but someone was standing on top of the building, on the edge. Fliara was a little surprised. He was going to jump!

The dragon sighed. Why did people do that? Surely their lives weren't' as bad as this hell-hole she called 'her life'. They didn't know how she would give anything to be them. And she probably didn't know how much they would give anything to be her. She laughed. Someone want to be her? That was some kind of a joke- no, it wasn't a joke, because it wasn't even funny. Who would want to live off thievery and be chased like a convict for crimes she had never committed? Who would want to live off of scraps and dumpsters because they were sick and couldn't fly? Who would want to be sick for months because if they went to a doctor, they would get caught? No, no one would want to be like her.

She again looked up at the jumper, and sighed, shaking her head. He thought his life was bad? She scoffed. He had no idea.

Suddenly, the screams and shouts of pedestrians stirred her from her thoughts, and her eyes snapped up to the falling form of the jumper as he plummeted. For a split second, she had time to think. Her thoughts ran through her head, not making much sense.

_You're not a killer. They're wrong. The jumpers always regret it halfway down. What was your dream, so long ago?_

For some reason, a single message ran from her head to the entire rest of her body, and, without a moment to do otherwise, she sprung into flight, and shot towards the falling civilian. She preparred to catch him, trying to find out a way to do so that wouldn't break every bone in his body. At first she flapped her wings, trying to get elevation to meet the jumper. It didn't work, and she missed, the jumper falling. She plummeted down, propelling herself with her wings, and caught him while heading downwards. Then, she pulled up sharply, barely missing the pathement and news reporters, and struggling for altitude while carrying the... he appeared to be a hedgehog.

It took her a few minutes to realize what she had done. And when she did realize...

"Shit!" She shouted. She had just jumped out in front of thousands of people! She had just jumped out in front of news cameras and reporters and lights and _Them!_ And besides, what was she thinking, pulling a stunt like that in her health! Her wings and lungs ached, and she could barely stay airborne. Meanwhile the hedgehog was struggling and screaming at her, fighting to get out of her arms. She ignored him completely, and continued to glide, although it was difficult with so much excess weight. "Damn, Damn, Damn!" She exclaimed, forcing her self into higher altitude and landing on a building roof. Now _They_ would be right on her tail! She had to hide- and fast! She dropped the black and silver hedgehog, completely ignoring his shouts, and dove beneath and air vent, just in time as jet-packed officers flew over head. Fliara waited a moment, until the hum of their noisy packs disappeared, and wriggled out from the tight space. She breathed in heavily, and sighed. She then turned to look behind her, at the black and gray hedgehog, which was on his hands and knees, and apparently sobbing. She was a little taken back, but was too angry to have pity for him.

She had been so stupid! Why couldn't she have controlled her wings, let him fall, left, and not be in this mess? She glared at the hedgehog. This was all his fault. If he hadn't jumped, she wouldn't be here; and she wouldn't have _Them_ so intent on her trail.

She walked up to the hedgehog, and reached down to pull him from his knees, but when she touched him, He spun around and punched her in the face, sending her flying. Fliara recoiled in mid air, spun, and landed on her feet, giving a shout of aggravation as she held a claw to her face. The hedgehog in question gasped, and backed away.

"What the hell was that for? I saved your life, you miserable-"

"H-how did you do that?" He demanded, a shaky hand flying to his side, and whipping out a gun, pointing it at her. Fliara froze.

"...Oh shit."

-

_Maybe, I'm insane... walking on a wire... maybe I'm the same... nothing can take me higher..._

"How did you do that?" He asked again, stammering, and waving the gun threateningly. Fliara paused. He was a mess, now that she got a good look at him. His rich, black fur was in disarray, and the soft gray streaks that went up his arms, legs and through his quills were dotted with dirt, stains and blood. Two streaks that went on the top of his quills, which bent up sharply in two separate splits, came to his forehead. And a third streak cam from the quill on top of his head, which curved up, and filled with a smaller, spikier black streak, (The silver streak, not the quill. Oh this is so hard... WHY DID I HAVE TO PICTURE HIM SO COMPLICATED!)? She couldn't see much more of him, other that he had a large tuff of silver fur on his chest, which covered most of his belly.

"...Do what?" Asked Fliara apprehensively, still rubbing her sore jaw. She saw how shaken up he was, and knew he was in no position to kill someone. She could relax for now.

"Th-that flip, when I punched you, a-and flying!" He demanded. "I only knew one person who could fly and she's dead!" The black hedgehog shouted, his voice quavering. Fliara groaned, knowing if she didn't get out of here, he would recognize who she was, and then she would be in trouble.

_Tell me where to start... I think I'm at the end...  
right now, feeling pain, make it go away..._

"Look, I got to get out of here, and-" Fliara said, turning to leave.

"Tell me!" He shouted, his tone hardening. Fliara turned, and glared. She could afford it, he could only see her in the dark as well as she could see him. And she couldn't see him very well. But he was getting a hold of himself again. He might actually shoot her now. She sighed, and stretched out her large, demonic wings, and stepping a little closer so that she was easier to see. At first there was a look of disappointment on the hedgehog's face, then pure shock.

"You're-" he was about to say, lowering his gun slightly. Fliara's eyes widened, she saw her chance, and pounced upon the hedgehog, ripping the gun from his hands and clamping a clawed hand over his mouth. TO her surprise, the hedgehog jumped and rolled, sending her flying towards the ground back first. She turned, and landed on her feet and hands, staring up at the hedgehog while he fell to his feet. She sprung upright, and threw off her baggy trench coat.

_Maybe I'm insane; maybe I'm a liar..._

"So we're going to do this the hard way." She stated, flexing her claws and wings. In reality, she was nervous about this. She was still sick, this was no time to fight, and it looked like he knew what he was doing. Not only that, if she hung around here long enough _They_ would find her! She waited not wanting to make any sudden movements, and then let her shoulders droop in disbelief as the hedgehog took a metal rod from his pocket and spun it, at which it tripled in length, becoming a lethal weapon. "This must be my lucky day." She moaned, jumping feet first at him, trying to land a kick to his throat. He held up the pole in front of him, and she grabbed it with her long, dexterous toe-claws, falling to the ground in the process.

_Maybe we're the same... Nothing can top the fire..._

"You're that dragon. You're a murderer." He growled, spinning the pole and flipping Fliara over in the process. Big mistake. The flat of Her tail spade lashed out and smacked him in the knee as her feet let go of the pole and she rolled foreword in a summer-salt, launching herself upright with a sharp movement of her arms. In the air, she spun to face the mysterious black hedgehog, and landed expertly on her clawed toes. She had practiced that move a lot.

She ran at her foe, dodging as he swiped the end of the staff through the air, and grabbing the staff, using it as leverage to kick him in the chest, wrenching the metal pole from his hands.

_I can't feel my heart, but I feel the shame..._

_Nothing left to say; soon I'll fade away..._

"Don't believe everything you hear!" She snarled, throwing the metal pole to the side and forming a battle stance. "Besides, it looks like you were ready to kill me a few minutes back!" The black hedgehog snarled, stood up and took another metal rod out of his pocket.

_These places- all I ever think about is lost in time!_

_These faces taunting me- I'm looking back, and they are mine!_

"That's because you deserve it! I know who you are!" He accused, running at her and swiping the metal pole at her. Fliara moved to dodge, as expected, but instead of following through with his attack, he swung the end of the staff to the ground and used his momentum to land a kick into her chest. Fliara cried out and was sent flying back, crashing into a wall of cement and nearly reducing it to rubble. She staggered upright, when her chest ached and burned. She tried not to cough, knowing it would give away her weakness, and then she was doomed. But her lungs were burning in agony, from having to breathe so heavily and the kick to the collarbone. The hedgehog charged at her, and attempted to bring the metal pole down upon her. Fliara sidestepped, and spun around, landing a powerful kick into the back of his knee. He cried out and fell, but rolled, and swung the other end of the pole around in a surprising counter, which landed a blow into her thigh. The dragon responded by kicking the metal pole out of his hands, catching it, and throwing it aside.

_I'm hiding from the things they say, beaten back and lead astray,_

_All I think is about yesterday._

_I could fly..._

Fliara jumped away.

_I'm trying to find a better way, but I'm trapped- can't get away..._

_All I think is about yesterday. I could fly..._

"If I'm the murderer, why did I save you?" She asked, preparing for the worst. She sighed, as it appeared that he had no more of those obnoxious metal poles.

"That's good question. Why did you save me?" He asked, running towards her and trying to land a punch. She jumped, grabbed his shoulder, used it to flip over him and threw him to the ground. She almost cried out as a sharp pain stabbed through her weakened lungs and muscles, faltering slightly and fighting back the urge to cough. Fighting back pain, she stared down at the hedgehog, who had tumbled back upright.

"I'll tell you that when you tell me why you jumped!" She growled, not really having an answer. She attempted a kick to his side, but he blocked it, and countered with a punch, which she blocked with her still-raised foot.

"That is none of your business!"

_Maybe I'm insane, walking on a wire, maybe I'm the same, nothing can take me higher._

_I can't feel my heart, but I feel the shame. Nothing left to say; soon I'll fade away._

_These places- all I ever think about is lost in time!_

_These faces, taunting me... I'm looking back, and they are mine!_

"Then it's none of your business why I saved you!" Fliara snapped, taking a step back and performing a powerful backwards kick into the side of his head- or what would have been his head, had he not dodged and taken out Fliara's feet, causing her to fall over. Fliara promptly swore. This sickness was slowing her down! She couldn't win! She had to get out of here! She rolled out of the way as the hedgehog's boot came crashing down where her skull use to be, and tried to make a run for the edge of the building. She would have made it, had she not collapsed into a coughing fit and fell to her knees.

_I'm hiding from the things they say, beaten back and led astray,_

_All I think about is yesterday. I could fly..._

_I'm trying to find a better way,_

_But I'm trapped, can't get away..._

_All I think about is yesterday._

_I could fly. _

"No! Not now!" Fliara moaned, trying to fight back the coughs that were so easily overtaking her. At first her obsidian opponent still charged at her, but when he heard her fits of coughing, he knew that through the entire battle she had been at an unfair advantage. He slowed to a stop, and took a few steps back, confused. "Just (Cough.) go away!" she spat. He looked down at her.

"Y- you're sick!" He stammered, as if he didn't believe it. Fliara rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, (cough) captain state the (cough) obvious. Any thing (cough) else?" Fliara wheezed half-heartedly. She was caught. This was it. All of those years of fighting and running- were for this. She was caught. He would contact _Them, _and they would catch her. She tried to steady her breathing, but it was no use as she continued to cough up various green sludge-like substances. She had just pushed herself too hard.

"...Why did you save me?" He asked again. Fliara sighed, and turned a mean gaze towards the hedgehog.

"You just don't give up, do ya, kid?" The dragon's eyes glances around, searching for some way to escape. She really had to get out of here before he reported _Them_.

"Tell me!" He demanded. Fliara sighed, and rolled onto her back, looking him in the eye.

"To tell the truth, I don't know. After all, you were about to blast my head open." She groaned. "Real smart Fliara, go rescue... what's your name?"

"Yang."

"...Eh? What kind of name is that...? ...Rescue someone, they'll magically become your friend and solve all your problems!" She chirped sarcasticly, immediately reduced to coughing afterwards. "Maybe it has something to do with a repressed event in my turmoil-ridden childhood." She continued to scoff, when he interrupted her.

"I-I wouldn't have killed you."

"Like I'm supposed to believe that? ...I know that I wouldn't have killed you. If I killed a single thing it would mean Sonic was right." She muttered, sitting up, but coughed immediately as it caused great pain. She found that her cough had subsided slightly. "But I'm sure you've heard the whole story. How I 'viciously attacked Sonic in his sleep.' and 'murderously went on a rampage of crime' and 'voodoo cursed the city' and all that crap Sonic fed to the media." She snarled, resting her arms on her knees.

She looked up, and saw the angry and confused glance the hedgehog was giving her. She laughed, and shook her head, looking at her feet.

"Bah. Look at me. You'd never believe me anyway. What with that lovely reputation Sonic had built up for himself. He could have had someone murdered and gotten away with it" She spat sarcastically. "So go ahead, kill me, report me to the police, sign me up for a life behind bars or the chair if I'm lucky. Support your local law-enforcement and all that crap." She exclaimed, rolling her eyes for added effect. "They'll probably give you a nice tax deduction or something." She sighed, her tone dropping from angry and sarcastic to sad and accepting. She again coughed, only to shout out as it sent a flurry of pain through her chest.

The hedgehog seemed at a loss for words. Thoughts ran though his head. If she was evil, why did she save him? He brushed that thought aside- probably some twisted mind-game that those dragons were so famous for. ... But then why had she bothered- if she was so sick! That stunt could have killed her! ...He shook his head, and took a step back. He had no reason to believe her, like she said.

...And yet he did.

He looked down at the pitiful, sickly dragon before him, who was trying to keep some scrap of her dignity- and failing miserably.

"...I- ...you shouldn't have saved me... "

"You got that right."

Yang had to laugh- but then he remembered why he was on this building in the first place, and became immediately solemn.

"...Maybe I could-"

"Please, don't get my hopes up." She groaned. He glared.

"I'm not going to. I'm just going to hear you out." He objected.

"You're not gonna believe me, kid." She snapped, "but I assume you won't let me go unless I tell you?" The dragon struggled to her feet, only to collapse as her chest burned in attempt to move. She lay on her back again, trying to rest. "...Help me up, would you?" She requested, holding up a claw. The hedgehog hesitated, but eventually reached out a gloved hand and helped the dragon to her feet. Fliara wobbled slightly, but soon got her balance, almost falling over once. She coughed, but shook it off, and turned to look the hedgehog in the eye.

"...Well, it all started when- ...hey, look over there!" Fliara exclaimed, pointing behind the hedgehog. Yang, startled, turned to look behind him, and Fliara immediately took off running to the edge of the building. Yang, realizing he had been tricked, ran after her, catching her left arm before she could jump off and fly away. She shouted in rage, swiping a hand backwards and hitting Yang across the face.

"Damn it! You _really_ don't know when to give up!" She yelled, ripping her claw form his grasp. "Are you so intent on making my life even worse? Is it your hobby to send people to their deaths or something?" She shouted. "I wouldn't be in such a fix if it weren't for you! And I'm getting out of here! And next time you jump off a building- don't expect me to be there!" She argued, turning to leave. She stepped up to the edge of the building, but hesitated when she heard silence from behind her. She had expected some form of protest. She had expected the hedgehog to stand up for himself. Curious, she turned around, shocked at what she saw.

The hedgehog, (who was now clearly seen in a dark gray robe and rather fancy gloves-, which I will describe later) was nearly crying his eyes out where he stood. He made a few odd sniffling sounds, and then collapsed to his knees, sobbing.

Fliara sagged in disbelief, and shook her head. She stared down at the hedgehog, confused and uncomfortable, and uncertainly stepped towards him, nervously poking him in the shoulder.

"Umm uh- ...hey, I- ...Whatever I said- I ... I didn't mean it... umm... are you-...?"

"It's not you. It's me. It's always me." He sobbed, his words choked by tears. Fliara silently cursed under her breath. She should have just left when she had the chance. "I'll always cause nothing but suffering!"

Fliara felt like crying herself. Here she was, standing in plain sight on a rooftop with an emotional hedgehog and no clue what to do. She paced back and forth, kicking around an empty can she found, until- and even though she hated the idea- she knew what had to be done. Groaning and smacking herself in the forehead with disbelief, she walked towards the hedgehog, picked him up, and slung him over her shoulder. The hedgehog's sobs came to a halt, but he immediately replaced it with something far more aggravating...

"H-hey! W-what are you d-doing? P-put me down!" He argued, struggling. The dragon ignored him, went and picked up her trench coat, and started flying off to her old, broken-down hide-away. At first Yang struggled and shouted, but once he saw how high off the ground he was, he immediately shut up, and- to Fliara's relief- apparently passed out due to a combination of confusion, shock and the stress that had driven him to the rooftop in the first place. The dragon sighed.

"You're some piece of work, kid."

* * *

Yep. It's chapter two! And I hate to make yang look a little wimpy- He's not, trust me, it's that he's jsut a little shaken up from his recent attempt at SUICIDE! Don't you think you'd be a little emotional?

Try and guess the song for next chapter... ha! Good luck! I don't even know the song for next chapter!

...please suggest one.


	3. World so cold, by Mudvayne

I'm BACK! I'm also sorry for the delay. I haven't gotten much computer time lately.

And yes, Fear is still vacationing- but I've gotten a lot typed on chapter 13 today and hopefully it will get updated soon.

Well anyway this chapter is based off 'world so cold' by Mudvayne. the version with the lyrics is on my D.A. account. Go to my profile fo the link.

* * *

It had been about two hours since Fliara landed in her estranged, three-walled apartment. It was located on the top corner of a nearly condemned building on the outskirts of town, somewhere between a landfill and cockroach hotel- a place that no one ever came. And if they were so unfortunate as to end up here, they got out as soon as mortally possible. This was rather convenient for Fliara, and was one of the reasons she chose it as her living quarters.

The room had a door on the southern side- but it didn't open properly due to the aged-warped walls and only lead into a room full of discarded and broken furniture. There was a window on the northern side and no wall to the west, which created a cave-like entrance in which Fliara could fly into easily. It gave a good view of the rest of the city- and what would be a marvelous sunset, if it weren't for all the buildings in the way.

The furnishings of the room consisted of an ancient piece of technology- a radiator, which sat huddled between the non-functional door and the eastern wall. It wouldn't be working if not for the generator at the base of the building, and thankfully the primitive technology would serve for warmth during the winter. It had taken Fliara ages to clean out the dust and grime, and get the wiring back to normal. The piece of junk must have been over fifty years old! It belonged in a museum- and Fliara was sure she knew of one downtown that would gladly pay for it in gold. They were crazy about old, twenty-fist century machinery and such. If she wasn't mistaken, Tails had a job there.

Next to the radiator was a couch. Couches seemed to have been the only piece of furniture from Fliara's childhood that hadn't managed to go out of style, second to tables, which now sunk in and out of the floor. It was convenient, from what Fliara had heard, but she had never actually seen one up close before. The couch was old, but not nearly as old as the radiator and still relatively functional. A few springs stuck out here and there and there was very little cushioning- but Fliara had made miracles happen with a roll of duct tape and an abandoned pillow. The dragon had much experience in making the best out of her circumstances, and the couch was her pride and joy, second to the radiator.

Despite the two holes in the ceiling and old- but stable- synthetic wood floor, the place was nice, and relatively warm since the 'wind' generators were almost entirely on the East side of the dome.

Synthetic wood- it had been the latest thing once Fliara turned seventeen. It looked like wood, it felt like wood, it _smelled_ like wood- but it wasn't wood. It wasn't even organic! And it was four times as durable- lasting practically forever and working wonders for the rainforest. It was pricey to make, though. Fliara often imagined that this had been a first-class hotel once. But those days were over. She wondered if the makers of this building had ever thought it would be a treasured home for a criminal in hiding. She chuckled at the prospect. Probably not.

Walking over to the couch, she looked around, debating whether to drop the hedgehog, currently passed out on her shoulder, on the couch or floor. On one hand, it would be rude to drop him on the floor. On the other hand, what did she owe him? And since when was it her duty to be nice to people? Fliara gave up those ambitions when she went into hiding. But still, she found herself plopping the comatose hedgehog onto the couch, flinging her trench coat to the edge of the room, and sitting on the 'wood' of the floor. She reached out, and turned on the radiator, still fascinated that the wiring of the building was still working. It might give out any day now, but for so far it had held, and served Fliara through the toughest- if not synthetic and dome-created- winters.

She leaned against the wall and sighed, looking up to the dark-colored ceiling. She wondered why the former residence had painted it black. It had never been a highly praised color, in clothing or interior decorating, since before Fliara could remember. It was now a dull gray, with paint chipping and peeling, a single, non-functional light sticking from the center of the room. She tilted her head, letting her imagination make humorous shapes out of the chipping paint.

But something was still bugging her. Why _did_ she save... what had he called himself? Yang? Fliara was still warming up to the name. It tasted odd in her mouth and was difficult to comfortably wrap her mind around.

But _why_? Fliara had always wanted to be a hero, but those days were over. This was her life now. What, had she thought that this would change anything? And why did she bring him back here?

...It would have been rude to leave him, but when did Fliara start caring about this strange, oddly emotional fellow? She fiddled with a pocket buckle on her trench coat. Well, If she hadn't taken him here, he probably would have gone straight to the authorities.

Fliara scoffed to herself. And tell them what? 'She went that way?' Please, that alone would never let them find her. The worst he could have done, if she had left him there, was fire at her and miss while she was flying off. So why had she taken him here? Now he knew where she lived, and now he was a threat. She should have flown off when she got the chance. Besides, he probably would have just jumped again.

The dragon stood up and walked from the comfort of the radiator to the edge of the cave-like room, staring out at the faintly glowing city- the sky dotted with the miscellaneous hover-craft, airborne radio towers and dome-generated stars. From here, on the outer edge of the city, she could just barely detect the curve of the dome- how the displays on the side were just slightly stretched and warped.

The city was- from the outside- a seemingly glorious place. All of Mobius knew it's name, knew of the giant, protective dome surrounding it, the amazing technology within it, made by none other than Tails, who was still working to this very day. But Fliara knew what he city was really like- like every other city- just bigger, smellier, and louder. Again her thoughts turned to Tails. Ah, Tails. How old was he, now? Fliara didn't remember, but all she knew was that the little fox was apparently too eccentric to retire- he was now working on a cure for diabetes, on top of three other projects which no sane man his age would attempt. Fliara sighed. Even after Tails had turned on her- she still loved the little guy. He had been one of her best friends before all of this happened.

The dragon shook her head vigorously. She should stop thinking about her brief childhood- sure, it had been the greatest time of her life, but it was over. And Fliara was not so sure how much longer she could keep up with this 'in hiding' thing. She was sick of the dome. She wanted to see the real sun. She forgot what it had even looked like. The only time she could be out was at night- come to think about it, she hadn't seen any sun- synthetic or no- for over 40 years. She sighed. She might as well go outside during the day. Someday, they would catch her anyway. Fliara had just barely escaped the cruel possibility that it would have been today. And she was only pushing her limits by bringing _him_ here.

She groaned and sat down, still glaring at the serene but accursed silhouette of the city against the stars. What was wrong with her? Maybe all of this running and stealing was getting to her. She wished she still had a little left of that positive, optimistic person she was so long ago. But she was tired of all this, and was due for a change. Maybe that's why she risked taking in Yang- she was dying for some sort of distraction from her little pit of morbid reality. She closed her eyes, tilting her head back, exhausted.

The dragon was about ready to fall asleep, when a sharp cry awoke her. Her eyes snapped open, and she quickly turned around to see- ...Fliara again tossed the word around- Yang sitting upright and glancing, alarmed, around the dark room.

It was still dark, but light enough to tell that he was panicked. He didn't know where he was, how he got there, or how he was going to get out. Fliara remembered that feeling. It had happened one too many times- when she had almost been caught.

Finally the hedgehog caught sight of her, and glared, his hand flying to the pocket on his cloak- and was alarmed to find his gun missing. It was then that Yang apparently remembered all that had happened- jumping, the battle, meeting her- and once again broke into a few sharp, chocked sobs and collapsed onto the couch. Fliara, startled, flinched back. She wasn't used to people being so emotional. She was used to people glaring, yelling, shoving, like they did on the dusk-dimmed city streets and like the hard-faced, broad shouldered cops that patrolled the alleyways and blvds.

And yet here he was; a weepy black hedgehog who, in one action, had disproved everything Fliara had known or seen about people since she was sixteen. She rolled her eyes for thinking like that, and hit herself in the head. She should cut the philosophy. She had spent twelve years trying to read or write something that would get her out of this mess- and all it had caused was more trouble than she had to begin with. But maybe that was her fault.

Another loud wail caught Fliara's attention, and she decided she couldn't put up with it anymore. Nervous, but intentful, she roughly tapped Yang on the shoulder, persisting to do so until he finally lifted his tear-stained face from the arm of the couch. Fliara frowned.

"Look at you. You're a mess! ...What in the world gives you the right to be so angsty!" The dragon protested, walking over to the radiator and turning it down a notch. Daylight would be soon, and then she wouldn't need it as much. The hedgehog again looked around uncertainly, then sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"W-where am I? Where did you take me?" He spat, trying to sound tough. Fliara tried to stifle a laugh. Of course she still couldn't see him very well due to the darkened sky, but she could tell that his appearance would not be anywhere near the 'tough' tone he was trying to make.

"Where? That's a good question." She scoffed, walking again over to the edge of the room. She turned around, holding her arms out for effect as she announced; "Welcome to my humble abode!" All the while emphasizing a Transylvanian accent. Yang stared at her oddly.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?"

Fliara sighed, and let her shoulders droop.

"Old Dracula movies. They were before your time." She stated, turning around and sitting in front of the exit. "Assuming you aren't a hundred and twelve years old." The hedgehog moved away from her, standing up and trying to open the door to his right. As expected, it didn't move before hitting the warped ceiling and floor of the next room over, not to mention being blocked by the small mountain of broken furniture. At seeing it would not move- he jumped back from the door as if it had bit him, and immediately ran toward the window, looking out and seeing how high he was off the ground. He looked panicked at first, when he turned to Fliara, glaring.

"Who do you think you are! Y-you can't hold me prisoner!" He accused, again reaching for his gun- it must have been a force of habit- but finding it was not there. He cursed silently to himself, and backed away slowly into the deeper shadows of the night-fallen room. Fliara tilted her head to the side, confused.

"...You're free to go whenever you please." She joked, pointing to the edge of the room-, which lead to a six-story drop onto an old and decrepit sidewalk. Yang glared.

"Very funny." He stammered. His voice still slightly chocked by the tears he had recently shed. The hedgehog backed away, slightly jittery. "Let me go!" He demanded. Fliara scoffed,

"Go ahead, I'm not kidding. Why not, after all you seemed to enjoy jumping off buildings a few hours ago." She commented, shaking her head for emphasis. The hedgehog stumbled- at a loss for words, until his gaze hardened and he quickly replied:

"That's none of your business!" He shouted, quite angry. "Now tell me how to get out of this buildi-"

"Or what? You'll start crying again?" She scoffed, immediately wishing she hadn't said it when she was met with an irate glare. She was still sick- if she tried to fight him now, she _would_ lose. Fortunately, Yang did not look like he was about to attack her, although the dragon was quite sure he was considering it.

"...If you're so annoyed with me, you should have just let me fall." He snapped, sinking to the ground. "...I should have fallen. I deserve to fall... " he murmured, his voice trailing off. The dragon again was confused. She shook her head, her lengthy bangs falling neatly to frame her face.

"Oh come on. You couldn't have really done anything that horrible." She scoffed. The black-furred hedgehog stared at her for a moment, his expression verifying that he was indeed serious. Fliara's sarcastic tone was immediately dropped, and she returned to fiddling with a splinter on her foot.

"...Why _did_ you bring me here?" The hedgehog questioned. Fliara froze, and swore under her breath. She herself didn't have an answer for that. So what could she say? Looking nervously around the room as if it would reveal some solution, she built up a false demeanor and quickly uttered:

"...Well I couldn't very well of let you go to the authorities or something." She snapped, trying to sound confident. Yang raised an eyebrow, easily seeing through her front of clarity. A smug, partially arrogant grin formed on his face, and he shook his head, stating:

"You don't know, do you?"

At first Fliara was annoyed with that response- but shook it off and decided to be smug right back.

"That's the first time you've smiled since I met you. What's with you, kid?" She asked, reaching into her pocket for the second peach. As she took it out and began to play with it in her claws, Yang noticed and his eyes grew wide at the sight of the fruit. It took a moment for Fliara to notice. Actually, it was only when she was about to take a bite that she noticed how he was staring at the peach. She lowered her hand, and starred at him oddly. "What? ...Are you hungry or something?" She asked, uncomfortable with the subject. Yang quickly looked back up at her, a little startled, but soon averted his gaze and glared into space. Fliara shifted her weight, shrugging and considering whether or not to eat the peach.

She could tell he was hungry. It was all in the eyes. Fliara had learned to spot the gaze of hunger a long time ago. But what she couldn't figure out is why one of the media-governed middle-class would be hungry. They had jobs. They could eat. They wouldn't be locked up in jail for showing their face. What reason did he have to be hungry? If he hadn't eaten due to his own self-pity and angst, then that was his fault, and his responsibility, not Fliara's. And besides- she was hungry too. It wasn't her job to make people happy. At least not anymore.

But at the same time she felt compelled to hand the fruit over to him. She felt like kicking herself for being so philosophical, but it did make some sense...

When five minutes had gone by and no words had been exchanged, Fliara decided to break the silence.

"So... why are you hungry?" She asked. Yang, again startled, nearly jumped at her voice, but soon settled down and glared.

"Because I didn't eat. What are you, stupid?" He growled. Fliara glared.

"Well then why didn't you eat?" She argued; nestling against the wall she was sitting by. "You're one of the people- in that city. With a home, and friends, and a job... " she listed, still turning the peach around in her hands, laughing to herself as she caught Yang staring at it again. The hedgehog's eyes watered at her previous sentence, and he looked away.

"...It's not that simple..." He muttered, looking out towards the silhouetted city, aglow with lights from the houses and buildings. Fliara again scoffed.

"How simple does it have to be? ...I'd give anything just to be able to go into a store and actually buy some food for once." She scolded, tossing the peach with one hand. "You think I like stealing? Well I don't, bud. I'd give anything just to be in your shoes for a day." She laughed. Yang's eyes widened at the subject, and he shifted uncomfortably beneath his dark, woolen cloak.

"...Trust me, you wouldn't want to be me." He said, looking to the ground. Fliara chuckled again.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad. Not compared to what I've been through." She said. "After all, you have a home- a real home, not a dump like this. And friends. And a Family." She murmured. "I used to have those once. But then... something went wrong. An... accident. and now..." Fliara held her arms up , gesturing to the rest of the room. "here I am." She let her arm fall to her side, and sighed heavily. "So... what's your family like?" She asked. yang looked up at her, shocked, and for a long time no one said anything. Fliara moved around slightly, awaiting his response. Finally Yang opened his mouth, as if to say something, but he immediately burst into tears again. Fliara mumped to her feet, surprised. She again swore under her breath. Was it something she said? Was his family that bad? She walked in hurried circles, burying her face in her hands and giving a moan of exasperation. What was she to do?

...She tried to think of it in a reasonable way to view this problem. If she was yang, what would she want herself to do? Judging that herself referred to her, and not Yang, that is. Well, if Fliara's memory served her right, a pat on the back and a kind word were usually sufficient to cheer one up. But, the hedgehog might take it a a form of attack and judo-chop her in the face. But it was all the dragon had.

Nervously, she sank to her knees next to the weeping hedgehog, and nervously draped an arm over his shoulder, patting him on the back. the hedgehog flinched away as if struck, but quieted down considerably, and soon began to relax. Fliara, still unsure of what she was doing, carefully and briefly rubbed the fur on his arm before pulling away and looking him in the eye. she sat down, and shifted into a comfortable position, awaiting for Yang's sniffles to come to a close. The hedgehog futilely tried to wipe away his tears and partially runny nose, to no avail. Fliara chuckled, and rummaged through her pocket for a napkin (DON'T ask me why she has one! I don't know!) and handed it to the emotional spiky rodent, who wordlessly accepted.

"...You don't get along with your family, much, huh?" She asked. Yang shook his head, and noisily blew his nose into the napkin.

"No, it's not like that.. I... I don't have a family. Never did" He replied. Fliara looked surprised.

"No family? Even I had a family once. My brother, Knuckles." She commented. "...But you've never had one?"

He again shrugged solemnly, still wiping away his tears with the napkin. Fliara starred at him oddly.

"..so your an orphan?" She asked. Shortly afterward the dragon sighed, and clacked her claws noisily against the wood. "That's it? You're an orphan? That's why you jumped? Jesse! How messed up are you, kid?" she folded her arms stubbornly. "I thought you were some drug-addict who killed his best friend or something but wow, you ARE a freak, aren't you, bud?"

Yang, absolutely shocked and wordless, started at her as if she had just taken a sick, insulting metaphor and given it super powers. Fliara's eyes widened in surprise, and it took the dragon a moment to compute his shock.

"What? Is there something on my face?" She asked, clueless as to why he was staring at her like that.

Yang once again burst into sobs, and Fliara moaned in exasperation.

"Not again! Listen, you have to stop doing that!" She shouted, obviously annoyed. The hedgehog emitted a few more sniffles of misery, but eventually stabilized, glaring at Fliara. The dragon shrugged innocently.

"Fine then, if you didn't jump because you were an orphan, why _did_ you jump?" She asked. Yang didn't answer. She playfully gave him a shove. "Come on- if you tell me, I'll tell you about-"

"I'm a monster." He muttered, specks of tears still caught on his cheeks. Fliara was silenced by this sudden outburst, and she grew quiet, patiently listening. "Ever since I took my first damned breath..." His voice quavered and threatened to once again break into sobs. The dragon panicked, looking for some way to cheer him up. He appeared to be better when he was talking, so she tried to provoke conversation.

"Hey- you're not a monster! Monsters go around shooting people in their sleep, not jumping off buildings in self-loathing." She suggested, gently picking at the subject. Yang shook his head, and took a few sniffles of sorrow. Fliara carefully stifled a groan. She was uncomfortable when people got this emotional. Especially around guys... now maybe a fifty year old woman she could understand but from what she'd seen so far, Yang was not a fifty year old woman. But then again with the plastic surgery now a days you could look like almost anyone.

"B-but I _have_ hurt people... e-ever since the first day of my life- I... all I've done... " he trailed off. Fliara was relieved to find the chocked sobs had left his voice.

"...So, you've hurt people- everyone hurts people at some time in their life. I hurt people... I didn't want to, but I had to..." Fliara said, trying to help, remembering the man she stole the $20 from and the teenager working at the pharmacy...

"N-no. The people I hurt weren't fine... you don't understand. I... I've always... " A shudder went through the hedgehog's body, and a silence swept through the room, broken solely by the hum of the radiator and the distant sound of a cranked boom box from somewhere amongst the slums of Station Square. Fliara didn't dare interrupt him, especially as she saw he was about to say something- probably something important. "...Ever since I can remember.. I've had this... this... thing, I... I enjoy suffering... I-I _wanted_ to suffer- I _wanted_ to bleed, to shiver in cold-"

"That's not so bad." Fliara stated. "So you're a little angsty, that's okay! Heck, I think I was kind of like you at one time-"

"You don't have any idea what it's like!" He shouted, standing up and backing away. "Y-you don't have any idea!"

Fliara sprang to her feet as well, careful not to push him into anything rash.

"Hey, it's okay... " She muttered, trying to figure something out. "Hey, I'm sorry, okay?" The dragon held up her hands, the universal sign for 'don't shoot' or 'hey-I'm not going to kill you' or 'spare me! eat nick! he's tastier than me, no doubt!' She shook her head, unable to relate to the hedgehog's reason. "So why do you think that means you have to die?" She paused, and thought over it. " ..something bad happened, didn't it?"

"H-how do you know?" He stammered, wiping away the still lingering remains of the tears mentioned in paragraph thirty-something. Fliara's eyes widened.

"I don't _know_. I guessed. Besides... something bad happened to me, and..." She held up her hands. "I'm not exactly in Buckingham palace, am I?"

"W-what? Where's that?"

Fliara sighed.

"Oh yeah, I forgot... they tore that down for a super mall after they built the new one, didn't they?" she said, scratching the back of her head. The hedgehog glared.

"..I...I shouldn't be here. You should have let me fall. I shouldn't have to do this anymore!" yang barked, again stepping away from Fliara. The dragon, fed up with his self-pity, tried a different approach.

"Oh just stop it! Look at yourself, blubbering like some drunken fool! So you have this weird emotional quirk- big deal! That doesn't mean you have to die!" She snapped. Yang was taken back- his eyes widened in surprise and he let his guard down slightly.

"All my friends are dead! And it's my fault..." He blurted, cramming a fair majority of the words into a single second, two seconds tops. The dragon froze, and once again silence spread through the room.

"I- ...so that's why?" She asked, looking towards the city. "You... they're all dead?" she asked. No wonder he had been so upset. Fliara could only imagine the guilt, the conscious of being responsible for the death of her friends... the death of anyone would be to much for the dragon to bear- if she let a single person die then that would mean that Sonic was right- that she was a murderer, that she would never be a hero...

Suddenly it hit her. That was why she rescued him! That was why she risked everything she had- as little as that was- to save him! That's why she had been such an idiot! She smacked herself in the forehead. Even now, when she had nothing to gain for it, she struggled to prove her arch enemy wrong- it didn't even matter any more! The safety of those who had voted her into exile were no longer of her concern! And yet, here she was...

"...I'm sorry." She muttered."I ...I didn't know. I understand, why you jumped." She let her hand fall from her face. "I haven't had friends in a long time, but from what I remember they're pretty special.." her voice grew soft and became gentle with the words as memories of summer days spent with Tails, Big and Espio flooded back to her... She cursed slightly for torturing herself like this. "...how did they die? Was it really your fault?" She asked, curious. "If you don't want to say- it's okay, but.."

"Th-_they_ were after me, and, my friends tried to save me, and... " Yang brushed away a stray tear, obviously kicking himself for getting all emotional. Fliara tilted her head to the side, as something struck her.

She had heard someone spit the word _them_ with an equal amount of venom before. Herself!

"The government is after you?"

"Not the government, per say... G.U.N." he trailed off, as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth.

"G.U.N.?" Fliara scoffed. "Please- those people are history. Ever since their last under-cover mission- the one with the explosion- they-"

"I was in the one with the explosion! That's where my friends... " He again could not push himself to finish the sentence. Fliara metaphorically beat herself up for being so insensitive.

"I'm... I'm sorry. Really, I- ...I'm sorry your friends are dead. I'm sorry you think it was your fault. Listen, G.U.N. killed your friends, not you... G.U.N. is gone now, they can do no more... their leaders are charged for more crimes than I am- they're destroyed. Shadow would be happy to hear that..." She murmured, remembering the hedgehog's suicide a few decades ago. "...so why do you think that means you have to die?"

"..because... I'm- I was... I still am... I'm an experiment- darkness, it's.. it's built into me. My friends will always hurt because of me... I'll always be a monster, I'll always hurt people. It's just how I was made... "

"Oh don't be a moron!" She snapped. "Come on, you're okay... you didn't kill your friends. You didn't choose the life handed to you. You did not pull the trigger. They died for you because they wanted to. Because they wanted you to live. Because they wanted you to be happy. I've never heard of someone wanting a monster to be happy. I've never heard of someone loving a monster." She continued, unsure where the words were coming from, getting teary-eyed herself as memories of her friends cam back to her. "So you can't be a monster, Yang. If they wanted you to live, then you should live. Respect that. You owe them that much." She blurted, immediately surprised at herself. Where did all that come from? Where in the nine hells had any of that come from? Yang was shocked, himself. Fliara felt like someone else had put the words in her mouth, and she began to pull some sense from them in her state of shock...

"...You're... there's some sense in that.." Yang admitted. He sighed. "...but I enjoyed pulling the trigger on my enemies. No one should enjoy that..."

Fliara felt another rant coming along, and braced herself for whatever she would spit out this time.

"Well maybe you're right there- but that's not so bad! After all- they did horrible things to you, Yang! You have every right to be mad at them! You have every right to wish pain upon them! At least you're not turning your emotions away so they build up to the point where you do something rash! It's just human-... err, hedgehog... dragon.. -natural-" Fliara sighed at finding the right word. "To be angry at those who have done you harm. It's not that bad, Yang, it's not so horrible that you have to die... "

"..I enjoyed sending them to their deaths- I'm sure not even half of them knew who they were fighting... "

"Yang, just stop it! Were you really given a choice at that moment? I don't like killing any more than the next guy- heck, I can't kill people, Yang, I just can't- but it's just a built in error, everyone has them. My errors drove me to where I am today. My errors nearly made me miserable for my entire life. Just accept that you aren't perfect! Just like everybody else!" Fliara took a deep breath as her vocal chords once again began to listen to her, shocked that she had made two philosophical, uncontrolled outbursts in one day. Yang seemed sobered by the speech- and his shoulders drooped in exhaustion. He sighed, and at first Fliara thought he was going to say something, but- to Fliara' s surprise- he collapsed, right onto the floor. The dragon stood there, staring down at him, before sadly shaking her head. The guy was still exhausted from lack of sleep, stress and the collective shock of today's events. Actually, Fliara was getting pretty tired herself. It would be dawn soon- her bed time. She picked up the hedgehog and plopped him on the couch, picking up her trench coat and buckling it around her. She then sat over by the radiator, curling up to sleep. She sat there for a few moments, unsure what was bothering her- when she remembered and quickly grabbed the peach from her pocket, placing it in front of the quietly sleeping hedgehog so he could have it when he woke up. The dragon wasn't that hungry anyway. She then sat back down.

Fliara had many thoughts in her head- about Yang, about her past, about all the strange things that had happened in the past twelve hours. She had never willingly spoken to someone in more than eighty years. She had just had a rather personal discussion with a complete stranger. She had vowed to stop being so gung-ho. She had just saved someone's life. She had vowed herself not to get involved in anything crazy. And here she was. Life has it's quirks, doesn't it? She tried to relax, and waited to the sun to rise. She could see a few tiny rays from the window. Yawning, she rested her head against the arm of the couch (she was sitting next to it) and let her sore lungs and muscles relax. It would be a long night. Day. Whatever.

* * *

Well, that's it for now, folks! In chapter four- Yang rediscovers the desire to live (atleast for three more chapters) and decides to help Fliara with her 'dome-covered-city' problem. New character next chapter- this one's mine. I'm pretty sure he's going to die, though. 


	4. Passive, by A Perfect Circle

Hello- I'm back once again with the fourth chapter of my mainly OC story; My Life Sucks 'The Musical' Also; I edited the summary a little, to try and draw in more people. This fic isn't really about the characters of the Sega world; yes their important but this story is mostly about Station Square. Not Fliara, Not Yang, Not anyone else- this is the story of the town. So if people start thinking that I'm making the story entirely about the OCs- that's not true. The canon characters will have major roles in this. Just wait and see.

---

Fliara bolted upright, her body filled to the brim with heat-empowered energy. It felt like she would explode if she didn't move. She quickly turned off the radiator- and blinked at the harsh sunlight, beaming down on top of her.

The dragon sighed. She was lucky she woke up- she was about to overheat. Sleep-deprived and feeling as if she was about to explode, she willingly jumped into the shade-covered couch, sighing in relief as the waves of heat flew off of her scaly hide. Being cold-blooded could be a pain. You would absorb heat & sunlight into energy- it helped you digest your food, kept your heart beating; it kept you alive! But too much of it, and your body would overheat- go into overdrive. It kind of felt like your insides were on fire. Very unpleasant. Half an hour in the midst of a campfire was a good benchmark for the safe amount of heat- but Fliara had probably gotten six hours of constant sunlight- (which her body naturally multiplied) and the radiator, and it had nearly been too much. But thankfully, the shade was helping, and the excess energy was shedding off like a snakeskin. Which, by the way, Fliara had much experience in skin shedding. She did it once every two years.

After a few moments of calming down, her mind began to put together a few things.

One- if she was on the couch, where was Yang?

Two- what time was it?

Three- was it about time for her medicine?

The dragon sat up, and looked around, slightly startled to find Yang staring back at her from the edge of the room. In the daylight, this was the first time that she had gotten a good, well lit look at him, and the dragon couldn't say she wasn't surprised. Although he was a mess- fur scraggily and dirty- (Days of neglect, due to his suicidal outlook of the past few days, had done this) his fur was an incredibly rich black. The streaks of silver that ran through his quills and over his eyes were in reality an elegant shiny gray, and the smooth colors fitted nicely with his personality. Or at least what Fliara had seen of it so far.

His cloak was also black, and both his shoes and gloves were cuffed with large buckles. Over his white gloves were smaller, dark gray gloves, witch featured metal bumps sewn to the knuckles. The design of 'yang', the black half of the ying-yang symbol, lay stitched into the back of the glove, and the same fell for his shoes, which were also dark gray. A light gray starburst pattern encircling the 'yang' symbol stretched to the edges of his shoe, and altogether his appearance was summed into one word by the dragon- tough.

Impressed as she was, Fliara groaned, and slumped back against the couch, resting her clawed hand over her eyes. No, it hadn't been some weird, demented nightmare. She HAD taken a civilian to her 'home'. She HAD broken her vows of not getting involved in the life of the civilians. And, to her dismay, here he was. The hedgehog, noticing her distress, frowned, and folded his arms in front of his fluffy chest, which resembled that of the long-dead shadow's, only far more fluffy.

Yang grinned darkly, and leaned against the wall.

"If I didn't know better, I'd guess you were unhappy to see me." He declared smugly. The dragon frowned back at him, but sat up, rubbing her head.

" ...I'm in for it now." She moaned, brushing her hair from her eyes, and futilely attempted to pin them behind her non-existent ears. Yang seemed confused.

"Why is that?" He asked, walking up to the dragon. Fliara looked up at him, and shook her head, tail swishing in annoyance. She sighed, rested her head in her hands, knowing what she was about to say.

"Well, now you know where my 'home' is." She replied, as if that explained why. "Of course you're going straight to the authorities, letting them know, and receiving the 100,000 dollar reward for assistance in my capture." She said. "...Even if I tried to stop you- I couldn't. You'd beat me. I'm sick- I can't fight right now." The dragon answered. She lay back down, reclining comfortably on the decrepit, dusty couch, her claws draped lazily over her bare stomach and her tail curled around her scaly feet. "So you know what? Fine, lock me up. I've lived about 16 years of a good life- people have kicked the bucket sooner." She mumbled, nestling into her large wings. Yang took a step back, holding up his hands.

"Hey- I'm not going to turn you in."

"Lies." She snapped, her eyes darting to the hedgehog. Of course, she couldn't be sure. She hadn't been able to detect lies since she was a kid, and missed the ability dearly.

"No! Really!" He protested. He let his hands drop to his sides, but then brushed dirt absent-mindedly off his coat, needing something to do." Hey- ...I haven't been here long; I don't owe this city anything. I came here to act as a witness on a trial against G.U.N.- their headquarters was here... "

Fliara was confused. Gun's headquarters- here? But weren't Sonic and his little cult of fans archenemies of Gun? How could they both have been in the same city?

"...And after I had shut them down, I- ...I thought my work was done, and I..." The hedgehog trailed off, letting Fliara finish the sentence for him. She knew- he had jumped. And she had saved him. The dragon once again looked to the city- it was spectacularly bright in the daytime. The city shone in all it's chrome and pig-iron glory, while the sky was intensely blue. _What an awful color_, Fliara thought to herself.

"...So why didn't you jump while I was sleeping? There was nothing stopping you." She asked, yawning. The dragon stretched her arms and large wings, ending the gesture with a satisfied flick of her tail. Yang shrugged at her question, and ground the toe of his boot into the wood floor.

"Well, after our little 'talk' I decided I didn't want to jump any more." He admitted, obviously embarrassed. Fliara snickered, shaking her head. She then groaned and stood up, toes clicking against the 'wooden' floor. The dragon seemed to be amused.

"I never thought of myself as a psychiatrist, but you're welcome anyways." She replied, gloating. The ebony hedgehog frowned.

"Don't get me wrong- I didn't do it because of you. You just reminded me of someone..." Yang trailed off. Fliara wondered who that someone was. "Hey, I want out of here. You seem like a nice dragon, but I've gotta life, and I'm not spending it in cockroach hotel." He elaborated, gesturing to the run-down, three-walled apartment. Fliara sniffed indignantly and folded her arms in front of her chest. She could tell that the hedgehog was kidding, but she decided to play along.

"Hey, it's the best I can maintain in my circumstances." She wagged a finger... (Okay, claw) at him. "I'd like to have seen you do any better. Besides, you didn't seem to have a life yesterday afternoon." The dragon implied innocently. Yang's eyes widened and he looked away, and Fliara bit her lip, knowing that she had hit a nerve. "Well I still don't really trust you not to lead the authorities here."

"Well, that's too bad. I'm getting out of here." Yang barked, still sensitive after her last comment, walking over to the edge and looking down. Fliara stifled a snicker, knowing there was no way on or off the building except for flying. She would be more than happy to fly him off, but she was still unsure about his intentions. A few moments of silence passed as Yang stood there, staring at the six-story drop as if he expected an elevator to appear out of nowhere. At first Fliara thought that he was never going to talk, when finally the hedgehog turned around and spoke. "Well... okay, dragon-girl, you took me up here, now get me back down!" He demanded. Fliara first felt like laughing, but then her gaze hardened. She folded her arms across her chest and stood tall.

"My name isn't dragon-girl." She snarled. Sonic used to call her that. She had always hated it. Yang crossed his arms stubbornly, mirroring Fliara's pose.

"Well... I never got your real name." He said. "What was I supposed to call you?" The hedgehog grinned, and Fliara couldn't help but let her guard down. She felt like she could trust this person, at least with her name, anyway.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't asked..." She said. "But my name's Fliara. Flea-are-uh. Not Fly-air-uh or Fl-your-ah." She said, holding out a claw and placing the other hand on her hip. Yang at first hesitated, but shook her hand, trying not to get cut by her steak-knife fingers.

"I guess people have been butchering your name for a while?" He asked, judging from how she insisted on correct pronunciation.

"In more ways than one, yes." She agreed. The dragon then walked to the edge of the building, and looked out at the painfully blue sky. "...I hate azure skies." She grumbled. Yang seemingly ignored this, and walked up next to her.

"Well, are you going to get me down?" He asked, poking her in the arm. Fliara snapped to attention- she had completely forgot! The dragon at first opened her mouth as if to speak, but then paused. Yang shook his head, and grinned, surprising the dragon with how friendly he could look. "I'm not going to report you to the authorities. Do you really think I'd do that, after you saved my life?" He asked.

The dragon was taken back. She had never been thanked nor acknowledged for a heroic act. As a child it had been her life long goal. If this had been about a century ago, Fliara would be head over heels to hear that. But today... it just kind of bounced off, like water off a duck's back. Fliara hated to think that she had grown that jaded. After all, even if the old Fliara had been a bit potent and at times bossy, at least no one had hated her. At least she had friends.

"Yes, I will. I- I owe you that much." She said, without thinking. The dragon then held out an arm "here- hang on to me." She offered. Yang raised an eyebrow, both at her actions and previous statement, but held on to the dragon as she took off.

Flight is a miracle. I think anyone who has ever sailed in any way over the rivers of wind would know. Suddenly, once you've been able to fly- really fly, decide where you're going to go, it's like being on the ground was a cage, and all your ties were cut free. You feel like you could fly forever. It's a constant thrill to be hundreds of feet over the ground with nothing but thin air in-between, and at he same time you're in control. It's pure bliss, because you truly have the entire sky at your fingertips. And every time Fliara would experience the same sensation of total freedom. What running had been to Sonic, flying had been for Fliara.

The dragon raised her wings high above her head, crouching slightly before abruptly jumping off the edge of the building. At first it seemed like the two were falling, but then Fliara slammed her wings down against the wind, which lifted her upwards.

Normally this would be followed with other complicated wing motions and flapping, gaining altitude and speed as needed. But Fliara's goal for the time was just to get Yang to the ground, which only required a simple glide. And so that was all she did.

Fliara spread her wings out to cut through the wind, and banked slightly, creating a gentle downward spiral that eventually came to meet the concrete below. She then swung her feet under her and snapped her wings close to her body, falling to the barren street expertly on her wide feet. A good landing, if she didn't say so herself. She stood upright, Yang letting go of her arm after the flight was over.

"What do you think of-" Fliara began, when suddenly her throat began hurting again. She paused to breathe heavily, at which Yang seemed confused, but before she could answer him, Fliara began coughing as her illness once again tormented her.

The dragon collapsed to her knees, wheezing, as it became progressively harder to breathe. She panicked, because the fits of coughing had never came on so suddenly or severely before. Yang, after standing up, walked over to the dragon.

"Hey- are you okay? -!" He asked, his voice strained with panic. Fliara waved him away with her claw, and nodded, even as she coughed heavily. Again she coughed up a form of sludge, but at least this time it wasn't green.

"I- I'm fine, just a..." She paused to cough heavily, and her voice was raspy with aggravation. " ...Just give me a minute..."

The ruby reptilian again sunk into coughing; her entire body slouched at the effort. Yang paced nervously, reluctant to leave the dragon's side in her current condition.

"That sounds bad- really bad. You might have tuberculosis! You should get some medicine..." He inquired. Fliara shook her head.

"I already have some." She said, reaching into her coat pocket and handing Yang the box as proof. The hedgehog took one look at it and frowned.

"Fliara, this is just some over-the-counter shit!" He shook his head, and handed her back the box. "What you have could be serious; you should go to a doctor." He blurted. Immediately after saying it, though, he realized why she couldn't. "Oh... I-...I'm sorry." He offered. The dragon shrugged and sighed; finding her cough somewhat subsided.

"It's okay, really. I'm fine- that medicine is helped, and I feel much better." She said. The dragon tried to stand up, but fell back down, her limbs shaky from the recent coughing fit. She sat there, looking and feeling hopeless. The hedgehog frowned. It didn't seem right.

"No." Yang decided, helping the dragon stand up. "I'm going to get you something stronger for that cough of yours."

The dragon's slate-colored eyes widened, reptilian pupils dilating in interest and inquiry. Fliara pulled away from the hedgehog, and tried to stand upright, wavering slightly.

"How are you going to do that?" She asked, coughing slightly. "You can't just go into a doctor's office and get a prescription drug for something you don't have." The dragon argued, although not venomously. She scratched the back of her head, and pulled her trench coat around her, trying to save her fleeting energy. Yang grinned, and folded his arms in front of him smugly.

"I never said I was going to a doctor."

---

A few minutes later, Fliara and Yang were walking down the streets of Station Square- in broad daylight. Fliara, as expected, was very freaked out! Her entire life had been spent hiding, and suddenly being out in the open caused her to panic! The dragon kept close to the wall- and constantly glanced over her shoulder, even though the streets were unusually barren. After a while Yang noticed, and playfully punched his newfound friend in the shoulder.

"What are you bugging about?" He asked, shaking his head. "It's a beautiful spring day, like every day in Station Square." He said, gesturing to their surroundings. Now that Fliara looked around, the neighborhood wasn't that cheery. Yes, the awfully blue sky still hung overhead, and a pleasant breeze floated around her scaly body, filling her wings- (which were out, since Yang promised no one would care) but the buildings were broken down, the streets were vacant and the fake trees and flowers were vandalized and uprooted.

"I'm just not used to be able to go around. Usually there are cops breathing down my neck." Said Fliara, observing her surroundings further. It was very nice, to be able to just walk around, and not worry. Fliara hadn't done this in years, and she loved every bit of it. Yang nodded, and buried his hands into the pockets on his cloak.

"Don't worry about that- this is the slums, the ghetto, the pressure-free paradise where Friday Garnet himself could walk the streets unnoticed." Yang explained, gesturing towards the scenery. Fliara's eyes widened. Friday Garnet was an even more infamous criminal than she was. He was rumored to be at the center of a secret slavery-supporting cult, and still hadn't been caught. "So," Yang began, kicking a rock. "What do you think of it?" He asked.

Fliara looked around, unsure. It did look like her kind of neighborhood, but that didn't make it pleasurable.

"Why, do you live here?" She asked. Yang's eyes shot open, and for a second he laughed.

"Goodness, no! No one _lives_ here, Fliara... It's just a good place to go when you're a person... " Yang trailed off, lacking a description. "Like you." He concluded. Fliara scoffed.

"Thanks for helping my poor self-esteem." She joked sarcastically. Yang gave a thumb's up.

"Don't mention it!"

Fliara took another look around the area. It did have its charms, and she could probably have some good times here.

"It's not too bad, actually- but why is it so empty?" She asked. The black hedgehog grinned, and shook his head.

"I thought you lived in this city, you should know." He said. Fliara stiffened, and shot a glare at him.

"I haven't been living here more than I've been trapped here." The dragon shot back. Yang flinched away, putting up his hands. Fliara realized she had gotten carried away again, and pulled back from the subject. Sometimes she wished that she didn't get so hotheaded.

"Sorry, I forgot... " He continued walking. "People here usually sleep to about three, because that's when they switch from the new station server to the older one. While he older one's up, there's a better chance that you can get away with..." Yang trailed off. "Stuff."

Fliara didn't need an explanation; she knew exactly what he was talking about.

The entire city's police system was run by a computer located at the top of the F.I.N.E.K. building. The building was the government center of all of station square, and controlled nearly _everything _that went on in the city. The computer that managed police affairs had two servers it ran off of each day. When one got too hot, it switched to another one for about twelve hours, and then went back to the new one. This server was used to receive and distribute information across spy beetles (small videotaping robots) police-bots, regular human police, and home security systems. However, one of these servers was very old, and didn't function too well. More often than not, the signals could be blocked, changed, or just wouldn't get through. The old server had been a controversy for years, but the mayor had never bothered to replace it. Speaking of the mayor, no one was quite sure who was running that position at the time. After Sonic had died, the city simply hadn't had another election. Surprisingly, no one missed the election campaigns, (I wonder why? Ha...) and since things were going well in the city by their standards anyway, the civilians just stopped caring.

"By the way," Yang asked. "I told you what happened to me. Why are you in such bad shape?" Yang asked. Fliara's eyes widened once again. This person's friendly nature was strange to her, and at first she wasn't sure what to say. The dragon shrugged uncomfortably, averting her gaze.

"I already told you. Something happened." She explained, kicking the same rock that Yang had, for they had caught up with it. The hedgehog's eyes narrowed, knowing she was trying to avoid the subject.

"Come on, I spilled my guts." He insisted. The dragon sighed. What was there to do? Besides, she had nothing to hide, and he had a point. He had explained his past to her; she should do the same. She slowed down a little, just incase she would really have to talk about something. The dragon considered what to say; and finally made a decision.

"What is it that you'd like to know?" She asked, clueless as to where to start. Yang thought this over, and after a while replied:

"Your life seems pretty bad. Why can't you fix it?" He asked, once again kicking the prementioned rock.

"I used to have a _good_ life, you know. Family and friends and a good home..." she explained. Fliara unknowingly let her gaze fall to the ground. "But... well, this is why I can't fix it... you know Sonic?"

Now it was Yang's turn to look surprised. The black hedgehog stopped walking for a second, but hurried up when he realized Fliara wasn't going to stop walking.

"Of course I know him! Wow, Sonic the Hedgehog! How long ago did you know-"

"He wasn't my friend." Fliara stressed. "I knew him only because I was Knuckles' little sister... adopted sister, actually..." She explained, once again kicking the rock as she came across it. (That poor rock!) The hedgehog next to her raised an eyebrow, and walked a little faster, in order to hear her easier. The dragon continued. "My goal, all my life was to be a hero, and not just that, to be a better hero than Sonic. I didn't like how he acted, and we were pretty serious enemies... " Fliara sighed. "When I turned about 16, Sonic got seriously hurt, because of me. It was an accident, but... I was charged with attempted murder. At first my friends stood by me, and I was let go of that accusation." Fliara paused, and Yang nodded to prove that he was listening. "But then Sonic pinned another murder on me. Then another crime. Then another one. One by one everyone just went away- even my brother. Sonic... he wanted me dead, but he couldn't kill me. Heroes didn't kill people. So he turned me into a criminal instead. He knew it was my dream to be a hero, and he just stomped on it." The dragon sighed. "Even when he'd already pinned enough against me to lock me up for life, he just wouldn't stop. He kept finding unsolved murders to frame against me, like it had become his hobby. His goal was to destroy me, because of what I did to his leg... "

Fliara stopped walking, and stared down at the path before her. She angrily dug her claws into the ground, although it did not work due to the cracked cement of the sidewalk.

"...I know I hurt him. I know I ruined his 'talent'. So what if he couldn't break the sound barrier anymore? He was still faster than anyone else was! Eggman was gone anyway!" The dragon exclaimed. "Sometimes I wish we had gotten along better. Than maybe he wouldn't have taken it so hard." The dragon explained. Yang stood there for a moment, solemn. He once again buried his hands in his pockets, and looked over at the red dragon next to him.

"...We're both a couple of rejects, aren't we?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood. Fliara shook her head, not in the mood for humor. The black hedgehog frowned, and continued walking down the path, pulling the dragon along with him after she remained in place. After a while the dragon proceeded willingly. Yang decided to start back up his conversation. "Okay, so we've both had a rough time, and we're not exactly model civilians. So what? You're alive, aren't you?" He asked. Fliara sighed.

"What good is that? I have no life!" She exclaimed. "Oh, Yang, half the time I'm starving, I have to steal to survive, All my dreams are dead!" She growled in frustration, throwing her hands into the air "...And I don't think it's going to get any better."

"What do you mean?" Asked Yang.

"I'm never getting out of here, Yang. I'm not strong enough. Sonic gave sixty years of his life to making sure I would never really be alive. He won, Yang. I don't have anything anymore." Fliara admitted. She hated thinking of herself as weak. But she was, and this sickness made it even worse.

"That's not true, Fliara." Came Yang's voice from her left. The dragon stared up at him, unsure. He saw the question marks in her eyes, and grinned to himself. "There's something we both need- a friend. Consider yourself one friend more, Fliara the Dragon." Yang said, holding out his hand.

The dragon was surprised, and uncertain. She had been taught, within this long span of time, that she couldn't maintain a friendship. Every time a friend had left her side and joined Sonic's, she had felt it was her fault. But now there was no Sonic for this person to leave her for. But that didn't change the fact that she was an accused criminal. Being friends with an accused criminal could be an awful thing, and although she did want a friend, wouldn't it be selfish to drag someone into that?

"I couldn't ask that of anyone." Fliara explained, even though it hurt to say. "Not only would I suck at being a friend, what with the lack of experience, but also if the police found out you'd even spoken to me-"

"Hey, you didn't ask for this friendship, I did. And what the police don't know can't hurt them." Yang winked. "I'm not telling them anything if you're not. I have my share of things I'd rather leave unknown myself, Fliara, everyone does." The hedgehog told her. Fliara scoffed.

"Thanks, Yang; I was starting to worry that I was an accused criminal or something." She muttered, grinning darkly (force of habit) up at her new 'friend'. ..._Friend... _Fliara liked the sound of that word. The two laughed at their jokes, and continued walking down the sidewalk, not wanting to push Fliara's health with running.

For a few moments, the walk was uneventful, save the occasional birds, suspiciously buzzard-like, overhead. The sun, although bright, gave off the usuall amount of spring warmth due to it's artificiality; meaning not very much. And Fliara was glad to have her trench coat. Although she was cold-blooded, the coat was black, and thusly insulated a lot of heat, even if her reptilian body produced very little. If she was wearing pastels at this moment, she could very well be dead.

"So," Fliara began. "You never really explained where we were going." She commented, running her claws through one of the artificial trees. Her knife-like fingers scratched a couple of the polyester branches, and she smirked at the thought of damaging anything that Sonic had been responsible for. Fliara would never actually kill someone, but if she ever got her hands on the person responsible for all the fake evidence Sonic got...

"I already told you." Yang said. Fliara shook your head.

"No, you just said- and I quote; 'Hey, I know a place where we can get you some medication for your cough.' and then we went." She said. Yang chuckled nervously.

"Umm... sorry, got carried away... " He explained. "I have a friend who's really good in the smuggling business. I don't know how he does it, but that guy can get his hands on _anything_. Heavy artillery, prescription drugs, controban of any form- BAM! He can get it in a week. For a price, that is... " Yang explained. Fliara's eyes widened, impressed. It sounded like Rouge would have gotten along with this person just fine; Gems would have to have passed through his market once in a while.

"So who is he?" Fliara asked, wings twitching slightly.

"No one's quite sure of his real name. He calls himself Nobody." Yang explained. The dragon's eyes widened and her pace slowed.

"Nobody? That's his name?" Asked Fliara, incredulous.

"Hey, don't be fooled; there's no better guy in the black market." He insisted. Fliara nodded, and placed her claw to her chin.

"So... there's nobody like Nobody?"

"Now you've got it!" Yang said, giving her a thumb's up. "Nobody's the greatest- you two might get along." The hedgehog said. Fliara paused for a moment before responding, but then shook her head, letting her wings droop.

"I don't know- He sounds kind of power-hungry. You sure he wouldn't snitch on me?" Fliara suggested. Yang grinned.

"You're far too quick to judge." He said, picking up one of the fake flowers a he walked past it. "Nobody's in the black market- He wouldn't get involved with the authorities if it meant his life! He's got way too much stuff on his hands that he wouldn't want the police to know about, you know?" The black-furred hedgehog said. He looked at he fake flower, then dropped it in disgust, stepping on it as he walked bye. "Good God, why couldn't they plant real flowers? Those smell awful... "

Fliara laughed out loud at this, finding in incredibly funny.

----

Well... there it is. It's chapter four, in all it's glory. Next chapter; They go visit Nobody, and explore the ghetto of Station Square- where a plan for vengence unfolds! Tune in next time- OR ELSE! (shakes fist)

Yang copyrighted by Celestial the hedgird. Fliara copyrighted by Komodo-342. Sonic the hedgehog, Station square and all other Sega characters are owned by the company and not the author of this fiction. Story not availible for purchase or retail distribution (AKA; don't print it out and sell it to people at your school/workplace. That's wrong.)


	5. No song, by Nobody

Welcome to the highly anticipated chapter five! I hope you enjoy this section of the story as much as I enjoyed posting it when I should have been doing history homework, which will probably result in failure and humilation when the next report cards come around! Oh, unfathomable joy!

* * *

"So, this is it?" Asked Fliara, staring up at the abandoned warehouse. The black hedgehog grinned and nodded, holding out an arm to the beaten scenery.

Nobody's 'house' resided in an abandoned harbor on the very outer rim of town. The edge of the dome was just barely out of running distance- you could see the seam where the real hills of Station Square's outer fields met with the synthetic images of sky, ocean and a small amount of land. The building- which was what looked like a huge mechanic's garage, was nestled between a few hundred empty factories, skyscrapers an other garage-like storage buildings.

Nobody's entire complex consisted of a huge cement-paved portion of land in the steel-coated harbor, which was nearly jam-packed with all sorts of buildings. A chain-link fence, topped with barbwire, ran around the very large property, which collectively was about the size of a small school. On the western half was an assortment of storage buildings, slate blue in color and bearing large doors, which provided for mass shipping and the entry/exit of large trucks.

Fliara continued to look around the large area, taking in every detail. In the center-north side of the complex (which Fliara and Yang were standing in front of) sat a large, tall building. The paint, like on all the other constructions, was chipped and blue, but this to some extent appeared like a house. There was a smaller second story with a window, but Fliara couldn't see what was inside. To the east was a smaller storage building, next to a large pile of mechanical trash. Outside the relatively uncluttered area, the entire harbor was filed to the brim with junk, buildings and boats. There were even some old cargo ships still left in the bay, but Fliara doubted if they would ever sail again. As a matter of fact, she wasn't sure how they were still floating.

"Yeah. What were you expecting, a mansion? The authorities would get a little suspicious if someone suddenly bought a huge house and put it in an abandoned harbor." Yang explained. Fliara sighed.

"So you're telling me no one sells houses on the black market?" She raised an eyebrow at the hedgehog, and grinned smugly. "I thought you said this guy could get his hands on just about anything."

Yang shifted his wait and replied with a well-humored scowl:

"Yeah, key words being 'just about'. Now are you coming in or what?" He asked, walking up to the large garage door. Fliara again stared up at the towering building skeptically.

"...But the door's closed." She commented. Yang grinned, and wagged a finger.

"Ah, but only to those who don't know the way in." He explained, walking to the edge of the wall and knocking around a certain panel of the blue metal coating. Finally he came to an area in the metal where the sound was different. Grinning once at the dragon, he turned and hit the wall sharply with his fist, at which a hidden door popped open to reveal a communication system not uncommon from 21st century apartments. You press a button; your voice was transmitted to the according room. Currently the third button was lit up orange- Yang placed his finger on that button.

"Hey, Nob'y, It's Yang!" The hedgehog said into the microphone. There was no response for a long time, and Yang sighed, placing his finger on the button once again. "Come on, I know you're there- this is important!" The hedgehog said.

Fliara coughed lightly into the elbow of her sleeve, and afterwards rubbed her hands together for warmth. Being cold blooded could really suck when added with the right circumstances. After a few seconds, a light next to the speaker lit up, and a juvenile voice broke the silence.

"Hold your horses, buddy, I'm here... hold on a sec, I'll go open the door."

Only moments later, the large garage door slowly began to open, and Fliara was amazed at what she saw.

In front of her lied a huge gymnasium-sized enclosure, with bare concrete floors and rippled iron walls- or what was left of the walls that you could see. The entire first floor was shaped like a very thick, short T, The door Yang and Fliara entered in being at the base. On both sides of the entry, the entire 20-foot walls were covered in shelves- stacked up with all sorts of various odds and ends. On the southeast portion of the left wall, Fliara saw weaponry, while on the southeast portion of the right wall, there appeared to be parts of car engines, and some appeared to be similar to that of models that were hundreds of years old! But that was nothing compared to the wall in front of Fliara and Yang. A huge, and I mean HUGE- chalkboard (or it appeared to be chalk-) sat at the end of the hall, covering nearly all of the space in front of them, drawings and diagrams filling nearly every corner. As Fliara looked around, she saw that ladders- moving ones like you would see in libraries- were on every shelf, allowing easy access to every container and object. But they looked unused and dusty- Fliara wondered why.

She was surprised as something whizzed through the air from the hall to the left, and buzzed past Fliara and Yang with a brief. "'Scuse me!" She turned quickly to look at it.

It was a tiny robot, shaped disturbingly like a _Mentos_ candy- except for a pair of buzzing mechanoid wings, and obvious weld and hatch marks running down it's bright blue hull. A black ring circled around the top of its head, and on the opposite side of its wings, small round 'eyes' protruded from the otherwise smooth contraption. Fliara expected that the wings were for show, for also small and quiet jets circled the symmetrical base of the droid.

It 'fluttered' over to a portion of the shelve-covered wall, and before Fliara's eyes, a small robotic arm emerged from a compartment on the robot's side and grabbed a book. Afterwards, the arm gripped the book tightly and flew off in the direction that it had come, humming a small tune as it left.

She stared, allowing herself to grin slightly. Mighty impressive.

Her thoughts were interrupted when footsteps came from the hall where the droid had appeared. As she looked up, she was surprised.

A young platypus- looking barely over 20 in age- stood before them, oil stains splotched over his torn jeans and gray shirt, with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Large rubber gloves covered his forearms, and a baseball cap sat crooked on his head. His fur (or was it feathers?) was a musky, pine green, in great contrast with his bright, yellow-orange bill and blue eyes.

"Hi, Yang!" Nobody exclaimed, eagerly jogging up to the two. When he finally arrived next to them, Fliara realized that he was very short in comparison with herself and Yang. His forehead came about to her eye level. But in spirit, Noby gave the impression of being very, very tall. Fliara had to suppress a laugh. He was quite funny looking, all in all.

A series of small blips came from the hall to the left, and the small blue robot buzzed once again into the room, this time floating over to the three mobians standing by the door. Nobody laughed and held out his arm, allowing the robot to perch on it.

"Yang, I assume you remember Nadia." He elaborated, gesturing to the robot. Fliara raised an eyebrow.

"It has a name?" She asked, claws buried inside her pockets. Nobody, at first, stared at her with a slightly distraught expression.

"Of course she has a name! She's my pride and joy." The platypus explained. Suddenly, the blue robot buzzed away from his arm and floated in front of Fliara's face.

"Yeah! I'm his right-hand robot around here and don't you forget it!" It snapped, obviously with high spirits. The robot then made a form of raspberry noise in Fliara's general direction, then buzzed back over to Noby's head. Noby chuckled nervously, and blushed as the robot continued to glare at Fliara.

"Heh, heh... That's A.I.s for ya, eh? ...She's not so bad once you warm up to her." The young platypus offered nervously. Fliara looked from the robot, to the platypus in front of it, and then to Yang. She grabbed the hedgehog by the arm and pulled him to the side for a moment, out of earshot of the platypus- or more importantly- the robot.

"Yang, I thought you said this guy had been in the business for four years. He barely looks 21!" The dragon exclaimed. Yang laughed and nodded, folding his arms in front of him.

"Yeah. Nobody got into the business when he was 17- and believe me, nobody, and I mean nobody does it better than Noby." The hedgehog explained. The dragon raised an eyebrow, feeling like she needed to douse herself in cold water after that little analogy. She shook her head, and looked back up at Yang with a sigh.

"I'm just a little uncomfortable with leaving my health in the hands of a kid like him." She admitted, looking quickly over to Noby and Nadia, who were both staring at the two. Nobody waved, and Fliara half-heartedly waved back, turning back to Yang. She was surprised to find him slightly disgruntled.

"Just a kid? He's plenty old, Fliara- and for your information you don't look that much older yourself." The hedgehog argued, poking the dragon in the arm. Fliara opened her mouth to protest, but paused, and then hung her head, placing her hand over her face.

"I'm almost 100 years old, Yang, and you know that."

"You act that old sometimes too."

Fliara quickly looked up and glared at the hedgehog, at which Yang laughed loudly, playfully punching the dragon in the shoulder.

"I was kidding- I was kidding! Now come on, give Nobody a chance... " the hedgehog pleaded. Fliara sighed and looked between the platypus and his robot.

"And his little robot, too?" She asked disdainfully, looking almost anxiously at the blue, buzzing oval. Yang once again laughed audibly.

"And Nadia too." He added. Fliara moaned and turned back towards the two standing a few meters away.

"Okay," She sighed; giving in. "but if anything goes wrong; I'm blaming you."

"I wouldn't expect it any other way."

* * *

"Okay, so according to the directions you should take it once every two days with a meal. Oh, and don't take this medicine if you have liver problems." Nobody recited, reading the back of the pirated box with care. He then held it out to Fliara, who quickly snatched it up into her scaly claw. 

"As far as I'm aware my liver is fine. Come to think of it, I haven't spent that much time around liquor since I was 50- can't say I miss the stuff that much." The dragon responded, pocketing the medicine in one of the many compartments on the inside of her large and noisy coat.

"Good- cause you can't drink any as long as you're on that stuff, either." The platypus answered, closing the file-cabinet like container that held the large amounts of medicine. Right now they were in the smaller storage compartment/garage of Noby's house. It had the same blue, metal walls and bare concrete floor, but unlike the rest of the fairly tidy enclosure a large, wooden desk and a huge metal skeleton of some form of robot filled the room- papers and blueprints scattered everywhere- even on the floor! After he locked up the container, he turned back to Fliara and Yang, grinning as Nadia landed on his shoulder. "So, Yang... is she _really _100 years old?" He asked. The dragon's gaze hardened.

"If you have a question about me, I suggest you ask _me_. And yeah- I'm 112, 1-1-3 this April." Fliara answered, folding her arms in front of her. Noby grinned.

"Aww, don't take offense- I never believed any of the crap the media was spewing about you anyway. I always thought of you as some kind of political ghost story to get the children to behave. But you gained some pretty powerful non-political influence too. Actually, I think my mother once told me 'be good, or Fliara will come get you!'" Nobody laughed, and shook his head, turning back to the blueprints. Fliara allowed herself to smile slightly. Whether she liked it or not; she was warming up to this guy.

"So how did you decide to get into this business? I would have thought it'd be pretty hard, what with that weird underground monopoly Friday was doing a few years back." Fliara asked, unbuckling her trench coat and setting it on a coat rack by Noby's desk. The platypus chuckled slightly, and picked up a few blueprints, turning back to Yang and the dragon as he walked over to another file cabinet- this one with actual files in it.

"I got started before Friday did- and by then I had more than enough patron customers. But I'm getting ahead of myself- I guess it all started when I was younger." The platypus began. "My family wasn't the wealthiest bunch on the block- I mean we made it bye, but barely. So my mom and dad got the idea into our heads- that's me and my two sisters- to gather whatever we could find to sell later on when we got in a tight spot. It was kind of like a game, and fairly soon I got pretty good at it- you wouldn't believe the kind of stuff people just let sit around- and I'd know _exactly_ what it was worth." He explained, placing the blueprints inside the cabinet and closing the door after them. "I guess you could say I became a genuine pack rat; nothing was too hard for me to find." He paused as a look of loss found his face. "...Then, my little sisters came down with... something... some sort of disease. My mom got it too- but before I got to see if they made it, I was arrested for ignoring the 'not for retail sale' label... by the time I was let out- they just weren't there anymore- not even dad. I looked everywhere for them- I even checked law enforcement records... but it's like they just vanished. It's been almost five years now, and I still have no idea what happened to them." He explained sadly. "Afterwards, I started doing what I did best- underground trade, and car repair. After a while I had made quite a name for myself- people started recognizing I had the ability to find almost anything in a matter of days. I built up _a** lot**_ of connections- and even more patron customers. The business got bigger and bigger, I got a few maintenance bots to help me out- you can't trust human employees in this kind of business- and I even found a cheap lot in the abandoned harbor. Ever since, things have been going well; I've even found the time to program Nadia and start on a few other projects." Noby pointed to the large metal skeleton of what looked like some sort of tank. "That's going to be an expansion with Nadia- it's compatible with her hard-drive, and once it's finished she'll be able to link up with it an become a one- A.I. wrecking crew! It's gonna have machine guns and grenades and five-inch titanium armor- you know, the works."

The dragon took a look at the blue buzzing oval and then at the tank, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you sure that's a smart thing to do? She's dangerous enough as it is already." Yang commented, grinning at the robot. Nadia bopped him purposefully on the head and Noby gave out a small laugh.

"Oh, no, trust me- I'll need the security the way times are moving these days. Even the thieves have to keep locks, you know." He reassured. Fliara allowed herself a fanged grin, and stuck out a claw to the young platypus.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Nobody." The dragon offered. Noby smiled and accepted the gesture, shaking Fliara's hand in return.

"It was nice to meet you too, 'curse of the skies'." He replied, using the media's all-too-popular nickname for her. She shuddered lightly, but decided to take it as a compliment, and forced a smile as she reached for her coat once again. "Come back if you need a refill for that- I doubt you'll still have whatever it is after a week of that stuff- but just in case, feel free to drop bye." He offered. The dragon's eyes widened as she plucked her trench coat off the hanger and draped it onto her shoulders.

"I... I don't think I'd be able to pay you." She answered, hastily fastening the many buckles around her waist. Noby chuckled, and playfully punched Yang in the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it- a friend of Yang's is a friend of mine."

"In other words," Began the wolf gloomily, "you'll be putting it on my tab?"

"You betcha!"

Nobody and Fliara shared a laugh (while Yang rolled his eyes and shook his head, but allowed himself a grin) and then the dragon sighed and looked towards the door.

"I should be heading back... I mean you guys have done enough as it is, I wouldn't want to give any more opportunities for you guys to be associated with me- can you imagine what that would mean for you?" She pointed out, eying the door. Noby gave out a hearty laugh.

"For Yang- yeah, he'd be in some hot water, but for me, knowing you is only going to do good things! I'm in the black market! When people hear that I've done a favor for the 'infamous Fliara' sales are going to skyrocket!" The platypus grinned and turned back to his work. "But you have a point- you guys probably have places to be; I mean I know I do. And besides, Yang, It's getting late- Isn't Cel expecting you home-"

Noby went completely silent as the hedgehog suddenly went deathly pale at his last statement, and immediately the platypus' eyes widened, and he hung his head, stammering:

"Oh god, Yang- I... I'm sorry, I just forgot... it's... It all happened so fast. I ...I guess I still haven't gotten used to the fact-"

"Don't worry about it." Mumbled Yang, turning to the door. "Bye, Noby. Bye, Nadia." He said, walking briskly across the ground.

"Bye!" Replied the robot cheerfully, oblivious to the hedgehog's distress. Fliara glanced uncomfortably between the two- what was going on?

"Who's ...Cel?" Asked Fliara quietly to Nobody, staring as Yang turned right- into the main hall.

Nobody sighed and sat down at his desk, placing his head in a gloved hand.

"Yang's not real comfortable talking about what happened. If there's something you don't know, it's because he doesn't want to tell you." He picked up a pencil, and started sketching on an elaborate blueprint, matching the metal skeleton in the center of the room. "And believe me; if he doesn't want to tell you, it's unlikely enough that he'll change his mind on his own- don't go pressing for information from that guy." He set the pencil down momentarily, and stared at the drawing, before nodding, seeing it was satisfactory. "And one last thing," He said, rolling up the paper and placing it in a small pile of other completed blueprints.

"_Never_ try and cheer him up."

* * *

Sorry for the update delay- I just haven't had the opportunity to go online lately. But expect chapter six soon- it's already halfway typed. This chapter didn't have a song becasue it didn't really have any action- just in case you were wondering.

Well, good-bye, and I'll see you in chapter six!


End file.
